A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

2 Cor 5:1-10 is considered one of the ten most difficult texts in the New Testament. What is it about?

Two preliminary comments: All the divisions in our Bibles into verses and chapters were added much later. Some of the divisions seem arbitrary. It’s useful to remember that these New Testament letters and writings were not divided in the way we have them today.

The second preliminary comment is that Paul is dealing with “opponents,” and we can’t exactly say who they are. We do know that in 2 Corinthians he is fighting for his apostolic life. What is important for us is that he is really asking the question: What does the Christian life look like?

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A sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost

At the beginning of the season of Pentecost, there is the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 and 3 and the beginning of our troubles. With that comes the whole discussion about Eve. The feminists have been battling about this issue for forty years. They say that Eve is a victim. Even though they come up against 1 Timothy 2:14 (paraphrased): For Adam was formed first, then Eve; but Eve sinned first.

What do we make of this question as we look at how things began? First of all, the feminists point out that she would have sinned out of ignorance. How did she know? There was this command not to eat of the tree of life, but how would she know what it was all about? She really couldn’t be made accountable for much more than a simple mistake.

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Jesus Christ is Lord

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost

2 Cor 4:1-6

Eighty-eight years ago, May 29-31, 1934, a group of Protestant leaders met in Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany. They thought something had to be done over against Hitler. Hitler had taken power in Germany in January 1933. All the legal rights and power of the church were made subject to the State. What was to be done about this? People began to worry. There were 138 in that group gathered in Barmen, Germany, to do something. They talked and talked.

Half-way through the second day, when everyone there did what Germans did in those days, that is, take a nap between 1:00 and 3:00, while everyone was napping, Karl Barth drank a strong cup of coffee and wrote what is called the Barmen Declaration. It is only a couple of pages long. Six main points. Scripture, what we hold, and what we reject.

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A sermon for the First Sunday after Pentecost

John 3:1-18

Finally a Sunday where we get to talk about God!

From Advent until Pentecost the focus is on the Son, the coming of the Son and all he did. Then with Pentecost until the beginning of Advent again, it’s about the Holy Spirit. When do we get to talk about God? Where does God come in?

On Trinity Sunday! We’re not talking about God in some abstract way, but about the Trinity. It’s important to see how the Trinity works, that we talk about who this God is and what is he like in that particular way.

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The Holy Spirit is God

A sermon for Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

On this the third of the three great festivals of the Christian Church, Pentecost, you will note, if you happen to have a commercial calendar, that the calendar will likely identify Christmas and maybe Easter, but not Pentecost.

Some congregations celebrate Pentecost by asking people to wear red on that day. It’s one way to make this great festival festive. The color red represents fire, and Acts 2:2-4 states that on the Day of Pentecost the disciples were gathered together. “And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind” (Acts 2:2). Note a similar word about wind and Spirit in John 3:8:

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